Jolibee in Basilan (original)

4th Sunday of Advent
Matthew 1:18-24: “The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream”
December 23, 2007


When I first came here in Zamboanga City a month ago, many of my friends from Manila warned me not to go to Basilan. I smiled and said, “Alam mo ba, may Jollibee sa Basilan?” It was a pleasant surprise to him, “Really? You are joking!” I smiled. “Come with me, I will treat you a burger.” Such experience is not new to us; we are disappointed when tourists shy away from our country because of the CNN news. The images of Abu Sayaf, Payatas dump site, kidnappings, Trillianes in Manila Pen, begging street children, graft corruption speaks a lot. This is journalism; they highlight the bad news by showing us images. Unfortunately, images are powerful than words. An image can say a thousand words.

The battle of evil and good now is in the arena of imagery. We are bombarded with the image of poverty, graft and corruption, war and crime. The evil is personified and highlighted through vivid images of people who plants chaos or victims of injustices – Osama Bin Laden. Sadam. Al-Qaeda. Iraq war. Trillianes. Abu Sayafs. Marinet. Sumilao Farmers. Evil has a very vivid face. We see too much about the bad things people do.

Ironically, when we think of people that epitomize good news, we find very few. We have some few in mind but they are dead (Cardinal Sin), forgotten (Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio), a boxer ( Pacquiao), or a foreigner (Al Gore). We don’t have somebody in our fingertips! Bad news has faces. Good news has none.
We are well fed with words of good news – bible, encyclicals, treaties, visions and missions. But what we need are warm bodies that will embody the good news. We need “living witnesses” and “snap shots” of what good news is. To see a Christian and a Muslim praying together says a lot. To see a father jogging with his son on a Sunday morning. A taxi driver returning 10,000 dollars to a tourist. To smile to strangers. To praise somebody. To lend a hand. Not so much on doing great things. We need to start somewhere. Mother Teresa said, “In this life we cannot always do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” It is images and not words that really matters. Beautiful words may move us, but images of “love in action” give hope and convert people.

Our gospel for today speaks of Joseph. He was a carpenter – a master craftsman. A master craftsman must have a creative mind (dreamer) and can bring out his idea to something tangible and real (doer). Joseph was both dreamer and worker. The three times we have a record of God speaking to Joseph, it was through an "angel of the Lord" appearing to him in a dream. Each time when he woke up, he immediately obeyed the messenger (Matthew 1:20; 2:13, 19). Like Mary, Joseph’s motto is “Let it be”

But God is the greatest craftsman of all. The whole scripture is a history of God’s promises and fulfillment. The apex of God’s craftsmanship was when God himself became man, “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14). Presence matters – An incarnated God that can be seen and touched. A God of the here and now.

Christmas then is a call to wake up. God created us to become His presence and image of his goodness. To be the ongoing “incarnation of God.” God used Jesus to be His face on the first Christmas. Today, God wants us to be His face…here and now.
My friend’s view of Basilan changed when he learned there is Jollibee in Basilan. “It must be peaceful there.” Jollibee did the trick. But we are not a bee, we are be-ings!

“We must become the change we want to see in the world.” (Mahatma Gandhi)

- Fr. Willy M. Samson,SJ

Feet on the Ground

Wedding of Rojean Caharian and Alwin Macalalad
San Lorenzo Ruiz Chapel, Cagayan de Oro City
December 21, 2007
Luke 24:13-35: The Walk to Emmaus


One Sunday, Andres visited his grandparents. The grandfather was delighted to see his favorite grandchild. In his excitement, grandpa shouted, “Honey! Honnneeyy, your favorite grandson is here!” Andres smiled, “Grandpa, you are very sweet, at the age of 76, you still call grandma honey!” His grandfather wink at him, “Ssssss…keep quiet. I’m calling your grandma honey because I forgot her name!”

We may be laughing or smiling now. But there is a reality in the story. Some marriages are on the rocks because couples who promised to hold each other’s hand and be faithful to each other’s “till death do us part” have forgotten their wedding promise. In our gospel, too much expectation blinded the two disciples; they thought Jesus will be their superman to save Israel against the Romans. On the other hand, disillusioned couples are blinded by romance, unfulfilled dreams and high expectations to each other. Like the two disciples who ran away from Jerusalem, couples are running away from their own marriage vows. The magic is no longer there. They fell out of love.

Today, as we witness this celebration of love unfolding in our midst. Alwin and Rojean, allow me to walk you through this “walk to married life.” Learn from the two disciples, too much expectation can be blinding. Do not be blinded by the Hollywood and Regal film’s love stories, where most love stories end in “kissing and ringing of bells.” The End. But in marriage, real love stories begin when your own “movie like” love story ends up in saying YES to marriage. For Alwin and Rojean, it is when Alwin proposed marriage in Talisay Batangas and Rojean said yes to it. Let me quote from your own movie:

Then Alwin said, "Be with me." Everything jarred into place. Rojean couldn't speak; she was silently crying, tears of joy. She just nodded. Then Alwin slipped the ring into Rojean’s finger. They hugged and rested quietly for awhile in the veranda overlooking the Taal Lake and its volcano. THE END. Nope, it is not the end but the real beginning, where your love will be challenged. This is more exciting.

All feet on the ground, Alwin and Rojean. Face the reality, so that you will not be disappointed and disillusioned. More unfolding of self to behold and to enjoy as you walk together and build your own family. The beauty of married life is in journeying together. It is in your journey you will experience different moments of falling in love, falling out love, and choosing to love. Married life is a roller coaster ride, it has ups and downs, but do not be afraid, just open your eyes because God is journeying with you. This is the promise of the sacrament of matrimony.
The two disciples’ walk to Emmaus is teaching us something. The journey may be blinding sometimes because of the challenges of raising a family. But when you know you are journeying together with God, like the disciples, you will say too, “Where not our hearts burning while we journey together with God.” – burning of hearts means falling in love everyday! To fall in love everyday and to choose to love is the secret of a happy and lasting marriage.
In their journey, the disciples found seven virtues that led them to see Jesus – to see, to hear, to feel, to talk, to think, to walk, and to live. Learn from the disciples. To see – The two disciples understand everything when they saw everything in the eyes of Jesus. Learn to understand each other in the eyes of love. But to understand, you must learn how to listen to each other. To hear – The two disciples humbly listen to Jesus’ words. Learn to humbly listen to one another. There are still so much to learn from each other, to listen is to understand. Conflicts of ideas may still arise, listen and learn from one another. To feel - The two disciples were sensitive enough to offer Jesus to stay with them for it is nearly evening. Anything you can feel, you can heal. Learn to be sensitive to the needs of each other and healing will take place. Console each other when crunch time comes and share each other’s joy. To talk – the two disciples were conversing and sharing stories when Jesus came. Learn to share stories to one another, even the mundane and boring stories. You cannot fight someone when you know their stories. The problem with us now is we don’t want to listen to stories of others. To think – the disciples’ decision to return to Jerusalem is the fruit of their discernment. Find time to stop, discern and pray together, maybe a short talk in the morning before a cup of coffee or before hitting the bed? What you decide together will determine the quality of your family life. To walk – the two disciples decided to walk back to Jerusalem together. Always walk and work together. When you are married, dream together. Everything you do from now on is a “family project.” No more “I” but always “us” and ‘we.” To live – the disciples upon arriving Jerusalem joined their community and rejoiced in the resurrection of Jesus. Enjoy married life. It is not just raising a family. It is still you Alwin and Rojean. It is unfortunate that many couples forgot their friendship when married. Once in a while find time to do things you love to do together. Read books together. Watch movie together. Return to Talisay and enjoy Taal Volcano the way you enjoyed it. Eat isaw, fish balls and other street food together. Go to the beach. Swim. Sing your favorite “we wish you a mericano and a happy negro” when you feel like singing it."Do it again once in a while but without your future children! Even in family life, there are things that are exclusive to husband and wife. Your friendship is too beautiful to forget. Relish your friendship always. Do not forget the basics. Do not be like Lolo. After all, your friendship is the foundation of your married life.
Alwin and Rojean, learn to choose to love and fall in love everyday. Desire and choose it everyday. And before you know it, someday you will see yourselves being embraced by your own children, and thanking you both for giving them a loving parents and a wonderful family.
It is true that not all marriages are made in heaven. But with your constant love and remembering to see, to listen, to feel, to talk, to think, to walk, and to live together, every moment of your married life will be like Taal Volcano – a beauty to behold in awe.

- Fr. Willy Samson,SJ

Jolibee in Basilan

Christmas Eve Mass
Luke 2: 1-14 : “A Savior has been born for you”
December 24, 2007 / Ateneo de Zamboanga Chapel


When I first came here in Zamboanga City a month ago, many of my friends from Manila warned me not to go to Basilan. I smiled and said, “Did you know there is Jollibee sa Basilan?” It was a pleasant surprise to them, “Really? You are joking!” I smiled. “Come and see.” Such experience is not new to us; we are disappointed when tourists shy away from our country because of the CNN news. The images of Abu Sayaf, Payatas dump site, kidnappings, Trillianes in Manila Pen, street children all over, and graft corruption speaks a lot. This is journalism - highlighting the bad news by showing us images of bad news. Unfortunately, images speak louder than words. An image can say a thousand words.

The battle of evil and good now is in the arena of imagery. We are bombarded with the image of poverty, graft and corruption, war and crime. The evil is personified and highlighted through vivid images of people who plants chaos or victims of injustices – Osama Bin Laden. Sadam. Al-Qaeda. Iraq war. Trillianes. Abu Sayafs. Marinet. Sumilao Farmers. Evil has a very vivid and distinct face. We see too much evil everywhere.

Ironically, when we think of people that somehow epitomize good news, we find very few. We have some few in mind but they are dead (Cardinal Sin), forgotten (Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio), a boxer (Pacquiao), or a foreigner (Al Gore, Gandhi). We don’t have prominent good people in our fingertips! Bad news has faces. Good news has none. That is tragic. We need images of good people that will symbolize the good news.

The birth of Jesus is an image of “love in action.” A good news. The incarnation of word became flesh - A fulfillment of God’s love for us and the promise that He will be with us until the end of time. What is the importance of incarnation? Some people may say If God is God; there is no need to send his only Son to save mankind. All He needs to do is to say the magic word, “You are forgiven and save.” But this is not the essence of loving. Love is manifested in action and not in words. And since Jesus’ idea of salvation is to heal us, he needs to leave his God status and be vulnerable to humanity’s greatest mystery… suffering and death. He needs to feel. Anything that you can feel, you can heal. Anything we can feel, we can heal.

This is the call of Christmas for all of us - to have our own incarnation. To be like Jesus, to feel the pain of our family, to feel the pain of being not forgiven, the pain of hunger, being misunderstood, being lonely and broken, and being persecuted. When we can feel misery and pain of others, it is easier for us to understand others, and when we understand, we can heal people. Jesus became like in everything but sin, in order to feel us – what it means to be human. Jesus took of the clothes of his divinity and wore the clothes of humanity. To feel is to be there. Christmas then is PRESENCE – God is with us – Emmanuel.

We are surrounded by people who are hopeless, marginalized, abandoned, and suffering. Words are not enough to convince people around us about the love of God. They need warm and live images of “love in action.” They need our presence. The saddest Christmas for us is to celebrate it alone.

They are well fed with words of good news – bible, encyclicals, promises, visions and missions. What they need are warm bodies that will embody the good news. We need “living witnesses” and “snap shots” of what good news is. Not so much on doing great things. We need to start somewhere. Mother Teresa said, “In this life we cannot always do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” It is images and not words that really matters. Beautiful words may move us, but images of “love in action” give hope and convert people.

Forgive somebody and you will understand God’s forgiveness. Give your favorite shirt to the poor and they will understand God’s protection. Invite a poor family who has nothing to eat tonight in your noche Buena, and they will understand the meaning of feast in heaven. Visit somebody in the prison or hospital, and they will understand God’s unconditional love and forgiveness. Go out and spend Christmas season with your family and you will understand why Mary and Joseph need not to find a beautiful house for Jesus to be born. Do something extra ordinary this season, stretch your hands, smile to a stranger, spend more time with your family, give another chance, forgive yourself, play with your kids, hug your parents, say thank you to your parents. Beautiful words may move us, but images of “love in action” give hope and convert people


Christmas then is a call to wake up. God created us to become His presence and image of his goodness - To be the ongoing “incarnation of God.” God used Jesus to be His face on the first Christmas. Today, God wants us to be His face…here and now. You do not need to be Manny Pacquiao, or Oprah or Al Gore, or Jose Rizal to make a difference. Just be there for your family, for your friends and for our country. Just be there.

My friend’s view of Basilan changed when he learned there is Jollibee in Basilan. “It must be peaceful there.” Jollibee did the trick. But we are not a bees like jolibee, we are human be-ings!

This Christmas… its time to go home and bring the newly born Jesus to somebody who needs the savior … and allow them to see Jesus, not in your words but in your action. And when you finally see them smile and their eyes glow, you know it is Christmas!

Because Christmas is bringing a piece of heaven here on earth.


“We must become the change we want to see in the world.” (Mahatma Gandhi)

- Fr. Willy M. Samson,SJ

Jesus' Dysfunctional "Ninunos"

Matthew 1: 1-17: The Genealogy of Jesus
Carmel Monastery, Zamboanga City


To forget something is terrible. We forget things, names, anniversaries, birthdays and many others. To forget a birthday or anniversaries of your love one is unforgivable to us!

Matthew gave us a roll-call of names of people - the genealogy of Jesus. Most of the names mentioned are either unknown or known as sinners (Tamar - the prostitute, David - the womanizer, Jacob - the robber of birth rights, and a list of filthy kings). Matthew wanted us to remember that even Jesus’ lineage was not perfect one, yet it became the source of humanity’s salvation. The good news is – something good may come up from “not so good” things in life. God makes all things beautiful in His time.

But such beautiful things may happen only if we know how to accept each others weaknesses, sinfulness and limitations. The first step to change is ACCEPTANCE - To accept our own and others’ imperfections. There is no such thing as perfect person, family, and community. An inmate in New Bilibid Prison said, “Because of shame I decided to reform my life when I met people who accepted me as I am.”

Remember that all of us are sinners yet loved by God. Christmas is a time to remember the name of Jesus – which means “God is with us”

He became like us in everything but sin.


- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ
Carmel Monastery, Zamboanga City
December 17, 2007

Pink Elephants

Ateneo de Zamboanga Fiesta
Feast of St. Andrew - November 30, 2007
Matthew 4:18-22 : "I will make you fishers of men"


Pink elephants. Have you seen a pink elephant? Yes, there is such a thing as pink elephant. They are in Africa and what makes them pink is the plant they eat. That plant endemic to the place produces a pink pigment when eaten by the elephant, gives a pinkish effect to the elephants’ skin.
We become what we eat. We are what we eat!

We commonly hear remarks like … “a kaya pala, you’re an Ateneo graduate.” It can be a positive or negative remarks but most of the time it’s positive. What’s in the Ateneo students and alumni? I guess we have something in common in the way we think and the way we look at life. Thanks to Ateneo education.
Our fiesta is our way of celebrating the Ateneo spirit. When there is an Ateneo gathering, it must always be a celebration of Ateneo spirit : It is to know that we are not perfect people yet called to excellence and service – this is the spirit of loving.

Bishop Chito Tagle of Cavite, a graduate of San Jose Seminary in Ateneo de Manila captured this “spirit of loving” into four moments: the moments of gathering, story-telling, nourishing, and mission.

The first moment of loving is the Moment of Gathering. Jesus gathered his disciples and they became fishers of men. The Ateneans are called to become “man and woman for others.” The Lord gathered us together as one family for a meaningful cause. Not only to watch an Ateneo-La Salle game, but to a much higher and noble cause like actively responding to challenges of our times, especially here in Mindanao.

The 2nd moment of loving is the Moment of Story-telling. Jesus loves telling stories. Our fiesta is a time to share our own personal and shared story, our joys and sadness, victories and failures, and we learn from them. In any gathering, we love to look back and re-tell the same old stories all over again! We love remembering the past. We do have lots of moments of victories to remember.
Remember Aug 2004? …When our former university president Fr. Bill Kreutz, in his excitement, ran excitedly from the Jesuit Residence to LRC to announce that Ateneo de Zamboanga was officially upgraded to the university status by the Commission on Higher Education. He then realized that he forgot to wear his shoes, but at least he was wearing his black socks.

In year 2006, Ateneo opened its gate to adopt more than 1,000 residents of Camino Nueva during the fire incident. They residents of Camino realized that the four walls of Ateneo were just physical walls.

For countless times, we have gone beyond and crossed the sea that separates Zamboanga from Basilan and Sta. Cruz Island for outreach programs.
But we do have moments of sadness also, like the recent death of our well-loved university treasurer, Mr. Jun Sarau, our concern to the peace situation in Mindanao, our local and national problem of poverty, our national political situation, the slowly becoming common “coup de etat” like yesterday’s Trillanes stand-off in Makati and the unfamiliar calamity like this week’s big waves that destroyed more than 1,000 houses in 14 barangays in the west coast of Zamboanga.
Our stories, happy or not so happy, should remind us of our capacity to transcend from ourselves, respond to the signs of times and make a difference in other’s lives and the society.

The 3rd moment of Loving is the Moment of Nourishing. Jesus fed his disciples. To love is feed. To feed is to nourish and to nourish one another is fellowship. May the food, sports, contest, cultural and musical programs, giving of awards and reunions be our breaking and sharing of bread together.
The 4th moment is to be sent. To be nourished is to know that we are blessed. It should lead us to go beyond the walls of Ateneo, politics, ideologies, religion and personal differences. Beyond the Ateneo walls are still “us”: Zamboanga city, Basilan, Jolo, Sumilao farmers, and the whole country. Like St. Ignatius, Ateneans should be dreamers and doers. We humbly recognize that we are just a speck of sand in the great universe but the universe came from a single dust.

We hope that society will recognize us not because of our intelligence, achievements and pursuit of excellence, but in our individual and community contributions to the pursuit of justice, peace, and progress in Mindanao. We do not need dreamers. We have already lots of them in our politics. We need do-ers.
Pink elephants become pink because of what they eat. But we are not elephants. We are Ateneans. We become Ateneans because of what we value and believe, what we dream and what we do together. Happy Fiesta!

- Fr.Willy M. Samson,SJ

The Pilot

3rd Week of Advent
Matthew 11: 2-11 : “Go and tell John…”
December 16, 2007
Ayala, West Coast, Zamboanga City


In an interstate flight, repeated announcements came about the possibility of a storm. All the passengers were nervous and started to pray. Lightning lit skies. One moment the airplane was lifted on terrific currents of air. Then the priest saw a girl oblivious of the storm, singing happy song and reading book. She was very calm and completely composed and unafraid. The priest could hardly believe his eyes. When the plane finally reached its destination and all the passengers were hurrying to disembark, the priest asked the girl why she was not afraid at all during the flight. The child replied with a smile, “Sir, my dad is the pilot of the plane, and I know he will take me home safe and secure.”

The third Sunday of advent is also known as Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is a Latin word which means “to rejoice.” It is a break from the two weeks of sorrowful introspection and penitential spirit. This week we light the pink candle – the symbol of hope for the joyful coming of our savior. To hope is to know God is our pilot. We are safe in His hands!

John the Baptist knew Jesus very well as the son of God (John 1:29). Yet like us, John had his own faith-crisis when he was imprisoned on orders of Herod Antipas. Broken, disillusioned and felt abandoned, he needed re-affirmation. He send his disciples to Jesus and asked, “Are you the one who is to come or we should look for another?” Jesus said, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them (Mt 11:5). Jesus gave him something to hope for - God is in control. And that’s more than enough for John to be brave and beheaded.

Christmas is a re-affirmation of God’s promise of a saviour! Our plane called “life” may be in the middle of the storm, being tossed by the strong wind of trials, uncertainties, and insecurities. Jesus comes to the rescue and offers us to allow Him to be our pilot. He wants us to trust Him and let go of our “control freak” tendencies. Be still. God sees the bigger picture. We see the storm but He sees the blue sky beyond! It is not a matter of what we see in our life but what He sees for us.

Now I understand why some cancer patients who are in pain can still smile and remain faithful to God. Why some of us who are misunderstood and misjudged can forgive and understand. Why a mother continues to love her ungrateful children or husband. Why Juan dela Cruz can still smile with an empty stomach. Reason escapes us why evil things happen to good people. But we don’t see traces of bitterness in them. Their sad experiences may betray them but they remain faithful to God who knows happy ending. This is hope!

Pope Benedict says something about hope: “Anyone who does not know God, even though he may entertain all kinds of hopes, is ultimately without hope. Man's great, true hope which holds firm in spite of all disappointments can only be God—God who has loved us and who continues to love us “to the end,” until all “is accomplished” ( Jn 13:1 and 19:30).” ( Encyclical Spe Salvi, Novemver 2007).

“O come divine Messiah, the world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing it triumph, and sadness flee away”

Marilou Diaz Abaya wittingly said, “I believe in happy endings, when it is not happy, then it is not yet the end.”

-Fr.Willy Samson, SJ

Heavenly Durian

2nd Week of Advent
Matthew 3:1-12 : Prepare the Way of the Lord
Ateneo de Zamboanga Chapel


Durian! Crave or hate it!

Durian fruit is well-known for its obtrusive odour. People who dislike it describe its smell as “a combination of pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with an athlete’s sock.” For those who loves it, its heaven! The funny thing is everybody knows you have eaten durian because of the smell that stays with you - in your mouth and hands! I tried using soap, alcohol, and water to remove the odour but failed. But nature has its way of removing that odour - get the durian skin, put water in it, dip your hands, and zesto! Wala! Now you smell it, now you don’t! Nature has its ways! The antidote to the smell is its skin itself!

We are now entering the 2nd week of advent. Our Christmas preparation continues. John the Baptist is calling, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

In Biblical Hebrew, repentance is represented by two verbs: shuv (to return) and nicham (to feel sorrow). Therefore to repent is to feel sorry and return, the way the prodigal son, after coming to his senses (Luke 15:17) of his fault, had a change of heart and mind (metanoia), returned to his father. The son realized that the only way to reform his life is to return to the Father, the one who gave him life. Nature has the solution. Return. Go home!
In any renewal, returning home is always an important element of change, growth, and fulfillment. Jose Rizal even quoted, “Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makakarating sa parooonan.” To return home is the beginning of renewal and growth.

It reminds me of the story of a Greek hero Odysseus of the epic book “Odyssey”, who left his native town Ithaca to fight the enemies in Troy. He spent most of his time journeying from one island to another to fight monsters and gods, only to realize his real enemy is at home in Ithaca. His wife Penelope was being courted by 108 boisterous suitors who tried to convince to marry one of them because Odysseus was already dead. It took Odysseus 20 years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. He killed all the suitors and reunited with his wife. The enemy was not outside his hometown Ithaca. The enemy was “with-in”…in his home! It was an epic voyage of returning home and confronting the enemy.

John the Baptist is calling us to face our own “epic journey and confrontation within ourselves.” Like Odysseus, we have the illusion that our enemy is outside us - our own modern monsters and gods… family problems, marital problems, broken relationships, poverty, climate change, graft and corruption, human rights violation, Mindanao conflict, religious biases and others. Yes, they are our enemies, but you cannot face them without facing first our real enemy, and it is within us – our own sinfulness, selfishness and insensitivities. Confront yourself. Accept your responsibility. Stop the “I blame you” and “It’s not my fault” game. It stinks!

To repent is to humbly accept our foul “selfish odor.” Learn from durian. The antidote is simply “skin and water.” Coming to our senses of our sins “against heaven and earth” (Luke 15:21), we ask for forgiveness and soak ourselves into the water of God’s mercy and forgiveness (symbol of John’s baptism by water).

Odysseus returned home and found himself at the comfort of his lovely wife Penelope. The prodigal son returned home and found himself at the loving and forgiving arms of the Father.

What about us? … It’s time to go home.

- Willy Samson, SJ

Coat and Tie

1st Week of Advent
Matthew 24:37-44
The Unknown Day and Hour

December 9, 2007



A friend of mine called to borrow a coat and tie because he was invited to a formal dinner in Manila Hotel. It was a surprise invitation. He has no coat and tie. Unfortunately, I do not have one also. I was also caught by surprise! To avoid the embarrassment of not having one, I wittingly said, “Being assigned in Bilibid, I am not used to wear coat and tie, but I am used to hear inmates who say, I was “caught and tied” by surprise by the policemen and brought here in prison. It’s too late to repent.

When I went to Australia, I was caught by surprise again when I learned that I need to wear a coat and tie in one formal gathering. I was so stressed knowing all male were wearing coat and tie while I was wearing a polo shirt. I could have avoided the disaster and such moment of anxiety but I was not prepared. I do not have a coat and tie.

Our gospel this Sunday speaks of the 2nd coming of Jesus for the final and general judgment of all. He gave us a warning that nobody knows when and where it will be. It may not be even during the present time.

But we do have our own particular judgment to face with our own death. We do not know when and where it will come and Jesus gives us a stern warning, “you must be prepared for an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

We need to secure our own “spiritual coat and tie.” Job even said, “I put on righteousness as my clothing” (Job 29:14). We read how the king in the New Testament scolded and punished a guest in his banquet, “How did you get here without wedding clothes?” (Matthew 22:12). The guest was “caught” by surprise and was “tied” up for not wearing his “coat and tie.”

To wear our “spiritual coat and tie” is to wear clothes of righteousness. It means doing three things: To REPENT, REFORM, and REACH OUT.

Advent is a time of active waiting for the coming of Jesus. It is not a passive waiting of doing nothing. We actively work to secure our own spiritual clothes so that when Jesus comes, we have a decent clothes to welcome Him anytime. If we are afraid to die, we do not have the clothes of righteousness yet. We are not yet ready.

The time is now! Be ready! Get in touch with the Boy Scout or Girl Scout in you: “Laging Handa!” Start securing your own “spiritual coat and tie” now. We do not want to be caught by surprise. We do not know when the King’s banquet is. It is better to have your “coat and tie” now than to be “caught and tied.”

Remember… The banquet of the King is too good to be missed.

- Fr. Willy Samson,SJ

Resting in Prison

Jesuit Residence Community Mass
Wednesday 34th Week of Ordinary Day
Luke 21:12-19 : "They will persecute you"


“They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons…because of my name.” It may mean a figure of speech to many of us but it means a literal interpretation for me. Because of following the name of Jesus …by being a Jesuit… I was sent to prison for four years!

I remember the time when Fr.Danny announced my first assignment on the day of our ordination. Everybody was already expecting my prison ministry but I was still hoping and crossing my fingers for an overnight changes. But it did not come. I was sentenced to prison… all because of the name of Jesus. The fear and the anxiety of doing ministry to prison only disappeared when I started visiting the inner cells and cubicles of inmates and learning that the even the most hardened criminals in New Bilibid Prison have fears and anxieties too.
I still remember my anxiety when a death convict invited me to eat lunch with him in his cell. The first thing that I saw before entering his cell was the words, “Jun…R.I.P.” But before I could ask a question, he said, “Father it’s not Resting in Peace…but it is Resting in Prison. I smiled. He smiled. Suddenly, my fear disappeared. They have sense of humour. They are humans.

Our periscope for today is a call and challenge to all. As followers of Christ, we Jesuits, as individual and as a community, have experienced being persecuted or being misunderstood for doing something different in the name of Jesus, in the name of justice, in the name of excellence, in the name of change and growth. Following Jesus means persecution because to follow Jesus is to promote changes and many of us do not want change. But our gospel assures us that the Lord will always there to protect us, “you will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair in your head will be destroyed, by your perseverance you will secure your lives.”

To know God will be with us is more than enough assurance to follow his will and be at peace in the midst of contradiction, being misunderstood and being alone for doing something different and life changing. Jesus has showed us the way. He could sleep well in the middle of the storm. He could walk away without being intimidated in the midst of angry crowd. He could even utter forgiveness on the cross and save a criminal.

RIP may mean “Rest in Peace” for the dead and “Resting in Prison” for the inmates, but it may mean a lot to somebody who follows the will of God and suffers different faces of persecution, yet still in peace and can smile, work, eat , sleep well and enjoy life. They know God is at their side. R.I.P. for them is “Resting In Persecution.”

- Fr.Willy Samson,SJ